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New Labour Laws For Private Sector
By Za'im Zaini & Yusrin Junaidi

Bandar Seri Begawan - A new employment act is in the pipeline, which will provide wider coverage to all workers in the private sector instead of only manual workers who were covered by the earlier Labour Act.

The Commissioner of Labour, Haji Omar bin Haji Abdul Rahman, disclosed this yesterday during a question and answer session following a press conference on the forthcoming Career Seminar and Exhibition 2007, at Level 5 of the Labour Department office.

"With the new act we can solve certain problems," he said and added that finer details of the act are still being worked out. The Commissioner said cases of workers facing problems of not receiving their wages or receiving them late still exist and these have also affected the locals.

"There are currently 6,300 job seekers that are registered with us including early retirees. Even though the number is small it is a worrying issue," said Haji Omar.

On the issue of some locals preferring to work only in the government sector, the Commissioner said, "For us the issue of whether they want to work in the

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government or private sector is not significant, what we are looking at now is that Bruneians need to look for jobs outside Brunei and I'm sure some companies offer good wages."

Currently, the private sector employs only 25 per cent locals while the remaining 75 per cent are foreigners. "The number of locals working in the private sector is too low taking into account that the number of positions in the government sector is decreasing," said Haji Omar.

"The number of locals in the private sector should go up as the public sector cannot absorb all job seekers," he added.

Meanwhile, the Labour Department will hold a Career Seminar and Exhibition for four days from March 10 to 13 at the International Convention Centre in Berakas.

Among the objectives of organising the exhibition is to provide opportunities for employers to showcase job opportunities for local job seekers and provide exposure on the variety of careers available in the private sector.

The exhibition is also hoped to enhance the interest, knowledge and skill of job seekers so they can grab opportunities available in the private sector, increase the number of locals working in the private sector and increase the working cooperation between the Labour Department, employers and local job seekers.

Fifteen topics related to careers in the private sector will be presented by invited speakers comprising employers, corporate managers, motivational experts and religious speakers from banks, Brunei Association of Hotels, Brunei Shell, restaurants, cleaning companies, supermarkets, RBA, DST, Islamic Dakwah Centre and Career Resource Centre, Ministry of Education.

The topics include motivational lecture (where an expert from overseas will be brought in for the opening ceremony), methods to achieve success from an Islamic Perspective, achieving pleasure in your career; how to achieve it, how to do a CV and preparation for interviews; expectations and career prospects in the private sector; success in working in the private sector - sharing experiences, work opportunities in the hotel industry (optional), work opportunities in cleaning and maintenance (optional), work opportunities in the supermarket and commercial warehouse industry (optional ), work opportunities in food preparation and restaurants (optional), work opportunities in Brunei Economic Development Board projects, in the Sungai Liang park project, customer service and effective communication, self success, leadership and positive thinking.

Due to the short time, a number of the talks will be held at the same time and participants have to choose a relevant topic.

As many as 50 booths will be set up for employers that are involved in a variety of businesses. The exhibition will also be participated by the government sector.

Aside from the exposure and information on job opportunities and courses, the exhibition is also expected to provide job offers through "walk-in interviews".

The Commissioner of Labour urged job seekers to make use of the chance and participate in the exhibition. Participation forms can be obtained from the Employment Services Section, Level 4, Labour Department head office, Jalan Menteri Besar and from Labour Office counters in

Kuala Belait, Tutong and Temburong branches. Participation is free of charge. The forms should be returned before 4pm on March 3.

It is hoped that the exhibition will encourage and change the mindset of local job seekers to look for jobs that are available in the private sector so that the country doesn't have to depend on foreign workers.

According to 2005 statistics from the Labour Department, 24,083 workers were involved with a variety of industries such as agriculture, forestry and fishery (1,207), oil and gas (2,919), sawmill and wood related industry (53), mining and quarrying (2,347), construction (2,627), wholesale and sundry (3,191), hotels, restaurants, coffee shops (2,598), transport, storage, communication (2,241), financial, insurance and commercial services (3,843) and social and private services (3,057). -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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